


Touch

by alkjira



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: (kinda), Alternate Universe - Magic, First Time, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nori is an empath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-03
Updated: 2015-10-03
Packaged: 2018-04-24 07:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4911070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alkjira/pseuds/alkjira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’d begun when he showed up out of the blue to join them, something Nori hadn’t expected him to do, not at all, and Nori wasn’t used to losing bets on how people would act in a given situation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touch

**Author's Note:**

> (I didn't know how to tag this)

“Can I speak with you?” Nori asked as he stopped by the lilac tree where Bilbo was sitting.  
  
Beorn’s garden was large, and Nori had spent some time searching for Bilbo before he’d found him; a spot of faded white and red amongst the green.

"Yes, of course?" Bilbo scrambled to his feet, brushing grass and leaves away from his backside. Said backside was then turned in Nori’s direction as Bilbo bent to pick up the pipe that had escaped his pocket.  
  
Nori most _certainly_ did not allow his gaze to slip.   
  
Eh, who was he kidding, he looked, and he liked what he saw. That was part of the problem. But the problem would have been a whole lot bloody smaller if that had been the beginning _and_ end of it. There were lots of people with nice arses in the world, having one more in his immediate presence wouldn’t have mattered. Shouldn’t have mattered. But…

Nori wasn’t just attracted to Bilbo, he actually liked their finicky little burglar. He liked him more than he’d ever liked anyone who wasn’t family and didn’t that just take the prize.  
  
“I could have joined you,” Nori pointed out once Bilbo had straightened himself out both literally and figuratively.  
  
“Oh, well, do you want to?” Bilbo glanced down at the spot of grass he’d been occupying and back up again. “We could sit? I-” Bilbo’s cheeks coloured slightly but bright hazel eyes did not waver from Nori’s green ones. “I wouldn’t mind spending some time alone with you.”  
  
Mahal have mercy.  
  
Nori just barely held in a snicker. It was ridiculous. Apparently the two of them had decided to grow a spine at exactly the same time.

Unless it was just the fact that this was the first peace and quiet they’d had in weeks that had brought things to a head. Which… fine, that could be it. Still ridiculous.

It was tempting to sit down with Bilbo beneath the sweet-smelling blossoming tree, only… perhaps it would be best to remain standing. That way he could make his escape that much faster if this went south… Yeah… Always have an escape plan.  
  
“This is fine,” Nori said easily enough, trying not to see the disappointment on Bilbo’s face, and failing.  
  
Their burglar had a very expressive face, and Nori was very apt at reading faces. Which was no small part of why he wasn’t doubting that Bilbo returned his interest. He just didn’t know to which degree, and-

Unless… unless he couldn’t read Bilbo at all. Maybe Bilbo would surprise him yet again. Maybe he wasn’t really interested at all.

Because… There was the small matter of how every time Nori thought he had Bilbo figured out there was promptly something new about their burglar to surprise him.

It’d begun back in the Shire, of course it had, when Bilbo showed up out of the blue to join them, something Nori hadn’t expected him to do, not at all, and Nori wasn’t used to losing bets on how people would act in a given situation.

Bofur was still lording it over him for fucks sake.

Nori was _good_ at figuring out how people worked, great even. And no, he didn’t cheat. He didn’t need to.  
  
He’d been sure that when the Hobbit had fainted and then spent the rest of the evening huddled up with a nervous look in his eyes that’d mean that there was no way that he’d join them in the morning.

But Bilbo _had_ , and ever since he’d come running after them with the signed contract flapping in the wind Bilbo had never really stopped surprising Nori.

Again and again, ever time following after another; like shiny pearls on a string.  
  
That morning with the contract, the Trolls, not staying in Rivendell, how he’d slipped away in the Goblin caves only to join them on the other side of the mountains… And the little things.

Like how he sometimes hummed on dirty songs in his sleep, how he would allow Fíli and Kíli to boss him around altogether too much, but still wasn’t afraid to turn his nose up at Thorin, or how he’d pointed a small finger at their current host and ordered him to: “Stop calling me ‘ _little bunny’_!” even though Beorn was almost big enough to squish him in one hand.  
  
Not that Nori would have allowed that to happen, but Bilbo couldn’t know that. Or could he?  
  
Did he know how Nori felt? Was he maybe only interested in talking because he planned on letting him down gently? That seemed like the sort of thing Bilbo would do, but maybe that meant that he wouldn’t do it?

A few moments passed by in silence as Nori was frozen in something as close to panic as he ever came.  
  
“You wanted to talk to me?” Bilbo prompted, looking up at him with a small smile.

It was a nice smile, curving the corner of his lips and crinkling the skin around his eyes and Nori wanted to taste it. He just barely refrained from licking his lips.

“Yes.” Nori braced himself. He might be a cheat, a thief and a liar, but he wasn’t a fucking coward. Well, not any more. Not right now. “Has someone told you why I always wear gloves?”

Bilbo looked surprised and shook his head. Hah! At least Nori could surprise him in turn.  
  
“I thought- isn’t it to protect your hands?”

Nori lifted his right hand and curled his fingers into a fist, the worn leather making a soft whisper of a noise.

“When I touch people I can feel what they’re thinking.”

Silence settled over them once more, but Nori felt calmer now. This part he’d done before.

“I’m sorry, what?” Bilbo asked after several long moments had passed. “I don’t-  I-“

“It started when I was in my twenties.” Nori shrugged. “I’ve worn gloves in public ever since, it’s… better that way.”

The first time- He remembered holding Ori, and Dori holding them both, and feeling scared and sad and happy and safe all at once, only he couldn’t understand why he’d be happy, or scared. Ma’ was gone, and wasn’t coming back, but Dori would take care of them, so why-

And then he’d felt incredibly hungry, just as Ori had started to make the small bubbly noises that meant it was time to feed him. And Dori had sucked in a slow uneven breath and got them all up from the huddle on the bed, and as soon as Nori had handed over Ori to him he’d felt… empty.

And then the sadness, his own sadness, had come trickling back. It’d happened several more times before he’d figured it out, before he’d gotten it under control. But… he’d been young. And it wasn’t like he’d been expecting to be… like this.

“So it’s just your hands?”

The question surprised Nori. Dammit.

“No, it’s, everywhere. But I don’t generally go rubbing up against people.”

Bilbo was about to say something, Nori could see his lips parting on the first syllable of a word, but instead he closed it again and bit his lip.

“Not unless they ask,” Nori added, rocking back slightly on his heels.

He wasn’t used to feeling tall, but Bilbo had to look up slightly when they were this close to each other. It was strange, but he could get used to it. If he was allowed.

“Why are you telling me?” Bilbo asked, nothing at all like suspicion in those hazel eyes. Just confusion, and something like concern.

“Because I want to touch you. Because I’m-“ falling in love with you, and I can’t trust you if I don’t- “I really _need_ to touch you. Without my gloves.”

That could have gone better- But it also could have gone a lot worse. Bilbo wasn’t backing away. Never mind that there was a tree behind him that would make backing away rather tricky. He wasn’t moving. Wasn’t leaving.

"Nori..." Bilbo looked up at him, brows knitted together in what might be worry, or more concern, or maybe apprehension…  
  
“I wouldn’t go digging around,” Nori hastened to explain. “I just, please?” 

Most people only thought about how they would leave themselves open, and didn’t realise that he would be doing the same. Sort of. The other party might not be able to feel his thoughts, but they wouldn’t have to live with knowing exactly what someone thought of them. Or felt, rather.

Thoughts, clear crisp thoughts, were actually the hardest part to pick up from someone. Emotions were the easiest.

He didn’t think Bilbo would have any ulterior motives to… get involved. But he’d not be able to relax unless he knew for sure. Nori had learnt that particular lesson the hard way.

He’d taught himself to block most of what he’d be able to pick up from another person, even without gloves, and that had eventually landed him in bed with someone he’d thought he could trust. Up until he let his guard relax as they were in bed together. It… had not been pretty.

Asking Bilbo for permission when he could have just touched him anyway, maybe during dinner, passing him something all casual and making their fingers brush, asking was the only way Nori knew to make it fair. And maybe he hoped that if Bilbo knew… he’d say no if he had something he really wanted to hide.

If Bilbo said no, then Nori would keep his gloves on. And keep his distance. And that would be that. Problem solved.

“All right.”

Nori wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not over Bilbo’s agreement. But he was a little afraid, and _that_ surprised him. He hadn’t known that he was this deep already. Deep enough for it to hurt if-

Sucking in a deep breath Nori peeled off his gloves and tucked them away in his coat pocket.

“You’re not going to ask why?”

Bilbo hesitated, then he shook his head. “You don’t really ask for anything. Not really. So if you’re asking for this…” He trailed off.

“No one’s ever accused me of being _un_ selfish before,” Nori said, head tilted to the side.

“You didn’t tell anyone that you’d dislocated your shoulder in the Goblin caves.”

Nori blinked and Bilbo squirmed a little, but he had the stubborn tilt to his mouth that usually showed up when he was about to argue with Thorin. “I saw you… smack your arm against a tree, before we needed to climb. And you didn’t tell anyone. But it _was_ dislocated, wasn’t it? You've been a bit stiff when you've moved.”

It still ached a little, but the shoulder was wrapped now, and no big deal and Nori told Bilbo as much, heroically refraining from making any comments about being stiff and Bilbo watching.

The sceptical look he received as reply was not at all warranted – Nori would have accepted a comment about it being a liability not to tell anyone; in which case he’d been prepared to say that it obviously had been fine, but Bilbo didn’t say anything else on the subject. Instead he squared his shoulder and stretched himself up to his full height, which still was an inch or two shorter than Nori. _Strange_.

“Should I-?” A hint of a blush popped back to linger on Bilbo’s cheeks. “How will you- touch me?” A small, delicate-looking hand was held out for Nori, who hesitated.

“Can I touch your face?”

A nod, and Nori steeled himself before reaching out.

He cupped Bilbo's face with a hand that was completely steady. You couldn’t be a thief and allow your nerves to show. Not anywhere, not at all. Then the Dwarf took a deep breath. And another. And as he breathed out he let the shields he had forged around himself to drop. 

"Am I- I must feel strange to you. Not being a Dwarf?" Bilbo was biting his bottom lip, a pink, pretty lip that Nori could brush with his thumb if he just moved his hand a little. But there wasn’t room for such thought at the moment, not when-

"You feel like sunlight," Nori said, his voice hushed.

"Is that, good?"  
  
Sunlight to a Dwarf was… It was something you didn’t even know you were missing until you saw it for the first time. Nori had been born inside a mountain, and he still remembered the first time he’d been allowed to go outside.

“It’s good,” Nori murmured. “Thank you.”

“That's it?” Bilbo asked as Nori pulled back. “I mean, I thought, I didn’t even notice anything?”

Nori’s lips quirked up in a small smirk, but this was not the time to make a dirty joke. “That’s all I could ask.”

“And did you-“ Bilbo waved his hands level with his head. “Hear anything?”

"Unless you try to show me a thought, I can’t really ‘hear’ them. But-“ Nori’s smile widened. “I did hear the one about not thinking stupid thoughts."

"Ah."

"It was very loud," Nori said apologetically.

Underneath it there’d been other thoughts, but Nori had left them alone. Instead he’d just tried to feel if Bilbo was hiding something.

The good thing about trying to hide something was that it was counter-productive. It would only bring it that much closer to the surface. However he hadn’t found anything unexpected. Not that he’d _expected_ Bilbo to have a plan up his sleeve that would end with Nori framed for murder, but it still was a huge relief to know for sure. Once burnt twice shy and all that.

“May I-“ Small fingers wrapped around Nori’s, lifting his hand back to Bilbo’s face. “Can you hear this one?”  
  
First there was just the feeling of sunshine again, and then:

“What was that?” Nori breathed as soon as he could speak. The emotions… happiness, fondness, concern, _want_ , and something… something that Nori didn’t dare name, not yet. But all of them, they’d been so strong. "What did you-"  
  
“I thought about you,” Bilbo said, back to biting his lip again, and Nori bent his head and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still having some residue guilt over the Bilbo/Nori fic where Bilbo died, so yeah, hope this makes up for some of it


End file.
